Brian Rooney Charged with the Murder of UVM Student Michelle Gardner-Quinn
Brian Rooney, the last known person to be seen with Michelle Gardner-Quinn has been 
charged with murder. Brian Rooney was officially charged with aggravated homicide, which generally indicates murder during sexual assault or attempted sexual assault.
BURLINGTON, Vt. – A man seen on surveillance video walking with a college student who was found beaten and strangled a week later was charged Wednesday with murder.
Police said DNA found on Michelle Gardner-Quinn’s body matched DNA from Brian L. Rooney, 36.
Rooney had been identified as a primary suspect in the 21-year-old Arlington, Va., woman’s death. He was the last person seen with her before she disappeared around 2 a.m. on Oct. 7 after leaving a bar in Burlington to walk back to the University of Vermont campus. A store surveillance video showed the two walking together.
Gardner-Quinn died of strangulation and “blunt force trauma,” police said in an affidavit filed in court. The official charge against Rooney, aggravated homicide, indicates murder during sexual assault or attempted sexual assault. If convicted, he would face a mandatory life sentence.
Court papers previously filed in the case indicated Rooney had denied having anything to do with Gardner-Quinn’s disappearance when police interviewed him. (Boston Herald)
UPDATE: Rooney assaulted, killed UVM student, police say
County prosecutors this afternoon filed one count of aggravated murder that alleges Rooney strangled and beat Gardner-Quinn to death while he sexually assaulted her. The charge, the most serious murder count that prosecutors can bring in Vermont, carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance for parole.
Police say solid forensic evidence links Rooney to the slaying. Semen found on Gardner-Quinn’s body matches Rooney’s DNA to an extent that the probability is 1 in 240 quadrillion that the DNA is anyone else’s, according to court papers filed today in Vermont District Court in Burlington.
Rooney is scheduled to be arraigned at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. (Burlington Free Press)
UPDATE: Correction: Vermont Student Death Story
BURLINGTON, Vt. — In an Oct. 19 story about the death of University of Vermont student Michelle Gardner-Quinn, The Associated Press reported erroneously that DNA from a blood sample taken from the pants of suspect Brian L. Rooney matched her DNA. Instead, the DNA from the blood sample taken from the pants matched DNA from a semen sample taken from her body, officials said Wednesday. (Fox News)
Too bad…..
This is such a sad, sad story. I hope that the district
attorney in this case gets to the truth.
My best wishes to Michelle’s friends and family.
Comment by Patti | October 26, 2006